Hide and Seek
by Karkalicious769
Summary: This is a story based upon an idea of a doomed timeline in which Gamzee successfully kills all the trolls, except for Karkat who is currently hiding away somewhere. This is also going to be a sort of shipping story. So yeah, enjoy the ride and the multiple heads rolling about on the floor TW: Gamzee


**A/N: PLEASE NOTE** : **I do not own this story idea! This is merely my written work based off the DeviantArt comic "Hide and Seek" by** **Foxy-Sierra** **. Go check it out! She gets credit for the dialogue. And before you say anything, yes, I even asked for permission before posting this. So ha.**

 **Homestuck belongs to the all powerful Satan- I mean, Andrew Hussie.**

* * *

 _Be The Clown_

You are now 'the clown', otherwise known as Gamzee Makara, though you don't really care much for that title anymore. Names are limiting things made up by those with power to suit themselves. At least, that's what the voice in the back of your mind says, and you don't really see any reason not the trust him just yet. He told you to kill your friends and paint the walls in their sickening blood, and you did. You killed them all… except one, though you plan to remedy that fact very, very soon.

For now though, you are content with finish the set-up. The Dark Carnival has to be just as the Messiah's demand it.

You spot an empty area on your otherwise blood-soaked wall and, knowing that this will not do, you dab at one of the many puddles of blood littering the room and use your violet-coated fingers to draw a smiling face and, next to it, a frowning face.

:o)

:o(

You grin maniacally and turn to face the bodies of your friends, which you have lined up neatly against the wall. Their heads have been removed of your own jurisdiction, and are set up in front of you, four on each side and one tossed somewhere else, making a sort of pathway. There is supposed to be a body where you are standing, but you decided to save the guest of honor for last. You are nothing if not a gentleman.

You hope he likes it.

"THANKS FOR MOTHERFUCKIN COMIN'." You praise the heads of your friends, gesturing wildly at them with your arms. "Now that the audience is all up and seated, IT'S TIME TO FIND THE MOTHERFUCKIN' GUEST OF HONOR!" Your grin widens at the thought. You don't notice the dramatic changes in volume your voice is going through but if you did, you wouldn't have cared anyway. "After all..." you mutter, pausing for suspense. "IT'S TIME FOR THE DARK CARNIVAL." You step forward, stepping on one of the several horns that litter the room and sending a loud 'HONK' through the meteor. Without a second thought, you pick the horn up, squeezing it a few more times for good measure. "Oh, best friend~," you call, not expecting him to answer, yet trying anyway. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

 _Be Best Friend_

You are now the 'best friend', otherwise known as Karkat Vantas, though you doubt that such pointless formalities are going to matter much in a few minutes.

Your head swings from side to side frantically as you try to decide what way to go, and you just barely avoid smacking it against the metal walls of the vents.

You realize that hiding in a confined space was not very smart, but it was a matter of fight or flight and you just couldn't bear the sight of all the bodies, and the blood dripping everywhere, and that crazed look in Gamzee's eyes, as if he wasn't even himself anymore.

Just then, as if on cue, you hear the honking start up again and red tears appear in your eyes. They quickly blur your vision and, against your better judgement, you stop and turn to your left. You take only a few steps, or crawls more accurately, before you press yourself against the wall and let the tears flow, slumping in defeat.

"Why?" You mutter, bringing your hands up and staring blankly at your shaking fingers, trying not to look at the multi-colored streaks coating them from when you foolishly attempted to save your friends. "Why is this happening?" You know you're not going to get an answer, but the question seems worth asking. You have realized by now that this is a doomed timeline, one you're not supposed to survive, and that appears to be the only explanation you're going to get. Still, it felt good to stop pretending to be a 'fearless leader' and just let it all out. "Why, Gamzee?" You thread your fingers through your hair, gripping your scalp tightly as you hunch over into a little ball. "Why did you kill everyone?" And you're so quiet by this point that your whisper barely comes out as a breath.

There's a loud bang not ten feet to the right of where you're sitting, and you only have enough time to tense before-

"Hey, motherfucker." Gamzee says, his face leering at you suddenly from the darkness. "HERE'S GAMZEE!"

He moves closer just as your common sense kicks in and you move back.

"Oh Gog." You mutter under your breath, fear lacing your words as you frantically turn and crawl away.

"Where are ya goin', Karbro?" He asks and you barely manage to get the word "fuck" past your lips before you hear, "KARKAT, WAIT." and his hand wraps around your ankle, causing you to fall onto your chest, helpless as he pulls you closer and eliminating the little progress you had made in the other direction. You shake your head, muttering "no" repeatedly as he turns you around and holds you down by your shirt front.

"Motherfucker." He says, and you're close enough by that point to smell the lack of soper on his breath. There's something else in the air that makes you do a double take, and it's not until you compare that smell to rusty pennies that you realize what it is. Blood. He absolutely _reeks_ of blood. You somehow manage to resist the urge to gag. However, you do begin struggling with renewed energy, even when he growls lowly at you. "HOLD STILL!" He demands, slamming you harshly against the steel ground beneath you. You cry out in pain and your eyes automatically shut to protect you. For a second you feel like you're going to pass out, but you're not that lucky and the pain quickly fades. Gamzee, oblivious to the damage he's inflicting upon you, leans in closer.

"Why did you run, Karbro? I WAS ALL UP AND LOOKING FOR YOU, BROTHER!" You shake your head frantically, wishing you could be anywhere but _there_ as he continues. "Don't want my best bro to miss out on the miracles." He says, and for a second, you can hear a hint of your friend in his voice. "COME ON, KARKAT!" You peek at him through your lidded eyes, only to close them once more.

"Gamzee, please..." You mutter, but your voice falls on deaf ears.

He stills, suddenly quiet as he pins you down, and for a second you pathetically hope that he'll snap out of it.

"Hey..." Gamzee says, curiosity lacing his words, and you wonder what is so fascinating. Then you feel a tear that must have gotten through your closed eyes inching down your face. A bright red tear. Which might as well have just been a fucking marquee in flashing lights with the word 'Mutant' scrawled across it. "OPEN YOUR EYES MOTHERFUCKER!" He demands harshly, and you don't even have time to steady yourself before one of his clubs is slammed down not three inches from your head.

Your eyes pop open, and you're met with the sight of Gamzee, who is practically on top of you by this point, staring at you with serious eyes. He looks normal for a second, then realization hits and his eyes dilate and fill with an angry red.

"Red?" He asks, repeating your thoughts, and you can just picture the confused face he would make on Trollian.

:o?

"YOU'RE A FUCKING MUTANT?" Gamzee screams, and the walls of the vent vibrate as the sound waves hit them. You wince, and can feel your pupils shrinking in fear, the contacts you usually wear to make your eyes look burgundy long dissolved by your spiked blood pressure.

"Gamzee, please." You try again, using all your willpower to keep your eyes open. "I-" You try to continue, but are cut off when Gamzee leans down, towards the right side of your face, his lanky body curled up over your small frame. "Gamzee...?"

His breath hisses against your ear and you flinch away as his pointed teeth brush against your neck. "Your luck has all up and left ya, Karbro." He whispers. Your eyes grow wide and he lets out a loud 'HONK', slamming your head against the ground. You cry out as he moves away, removing the pressure from your chest. "Aw, don't be up and scared, Karbro. YOU REALLY SHOULD SMILE MORE!" Gamzee says as you push yourself up into a sitting position. "After all..." He continues, and you're too scared to wipe away the tears that are now streaming freely down your face. "THAT WICKED RED IS JUST WHAT I NEED TO FINISH MY MIRACLES!" He shouts, grinning like the madman he's become. "But before that, Karbro, LET'S HAVE ANOTHER ROUND OF HIDE AND SEEK! Whaddya say, best bro?"

:o)

"Gamzee, please! Listen!" You beg. At this point, you really should just give up, seeing as how this timeline won't be able to function with only two trolls anyway, but something inside you keeps trying. Damn pale feelings. "You have to-"

"I SAID RUN, KARKAT!" He screams at you, banging one of his pins against the vent wall and destroy any confidence you had built up. "Hide and seek has no point, IF YOU'RE NOT ALL UP AND HIDING YOUR MOTHERFUCKIN MUTANT ASS!" You move back, trying to put distance between you and his anger. "So run..." He hisses, and you can't help but agree. "RUN AND MOTHERFUCKIN HIDE, BEST FRIEND!"

Do:

You're way ahead of him. You turn, crawling away from him at speeds you didn't think were possible in such an awkward position. Behind you, he's laughing maniacally, honking his stupid fucking horn as you flee. Through a sheen of red, you see the exit hatch and hope springs in your chest. You flip it open and climb out, running before your feet even hit the ground. His laughter has stopped, but you don't think that's a good sign.

 _Be Gamzee_

You are now the murderous clown with questionable levels of sanity. Though you have spent the past minute laughing, it has come to your attention that it's making your questionable sanity levels sound a lot more certain. And not in a good way.

 **"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"** A voice echos in your head, bouncing around in your skull. **"YOU LET HIM GO?!"**

You clutch at the base of your scalp, just under your horns as the all too familiar voice gets louder. "Not now..." You mutter.

 **"HURRY UP AND CULL HIM!"** The voice demands, and you can feel your willpower breaking under his control. Still, you try. For all the trolls you've killed. For the humans you haven't yet. For Karkat.

"Shut up..."

 **"YOU'VE ALREADY UP AND KILLED SO MANY!"**

"Shut up." You say again, firmer this time and with more authority.

 **"WHAT'S ONE LITTLE MUTANT?"**

That does it for you. "SHUT UP!" You scream, hoping that for once he'll listen. "I WON'T HURT MY BEST FRIEND!"

He laughs at your protests, mocking you and getting under your skin in a way only a grand Subjugglator can.

 **"'BEST FRIEND'?"** He repeats, sarcasm lacing his words. **"HE ALL UP AND LEFT YA, BRO!"** He cackles, swaying your resolve with every word.

"SHUT UP!" You demand, curling your hands around your club. It seems like the only thing keeping you rooted to the present as you bang it against the side of the vent.

 **"HE MOTHERFUCKIN ABANDONED YOU, BROTHER! HE AIN'T NO BEST FRIEND!"** He continues, and a part of you can't help but agree. If Karbro had really been your best friend, he would have stopped to help. But then again, you did kind of force him to leave...

"STOP IT!" You're screaming is now louder than your banging, but you don't care, as long as the voices stop.

 **"HE'S NOTHING MORE THAN A MOTHERFUCKIN PEASANT BLOOD!"**

You grind your teeth together in frustration. "I SAID STOP!"

 **"IF HE REALLY WAS YOUR BEST BRO, THEN WOULDN'T HE HAVE UP AND STAYED TO HELP A MOTHERFUCKER?"**

Do:

You wait for more words, but none come. Not that they need to. Your last bit of self-control snaps, and you give into the urge to kill. Maim. _Destroy_. "Karbro..." You whisper, reaching out your blood splattered hand to grab hold over your just as colorful club. "Where are you?"

Your spare hand curls around your horn and you give it a gentle squeeze. "WHERE THE MOTHERFUCK ARE YOU?!" You squeeze it until you can feel the indents of your claws through the plastic, honking furiously, mildly surprised that it doesn't break. "KARKAT!"

 _Be Karkat Do:_

You are once again Karkat, hopefully for a while still. You feel like you've made good distance, but Gamzee could be literally anywhere, so you don't hope too much. So far, you've passed several doors, all good hiding places, but you have a destination in mind. The Lab. There's tools there, weapons. And your sickles, which you left there in your panic.

You see the door leading to the Lab, and though you are worn out, a sudden burst of stamina sends you down the hall in record time. Not pausing to breathe, you slam the door behind you, collapsing against the cool metal and sighing in relief. You don't get much time to relax however before you hear your husktop ding with the familiar sound of someone trying to pester you.

It takes a moment, but you stand, and with shaky legs approach the screen. You think it will be Gamzee, but you were wrong. Never before had the sight of John's nauseous blue text invigorated and terrified you so much.

You sit down and begin to type.

\- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at ?:? -

CG: JOHN?!

EB: hey, karkat!

CG: LOOK, I DON'T HAVE TIME RIGHT NOW.

EB: why?

EB: you busy? :B

CG: I MIGHT BE DEAD SOON.

EB: what?!

CG: JUST TELL STRIDER AND LALONDE NOT TO COME HERE!

EB: karkat!

EB: what's going on?!

CG: OH GOD, NOT THE HONKING AGAIN!

EB: hey!

CG: JUST RELAY THE FUCKING MESSAGE!

EB: karkat!

CG: WHAT, EGBERT?!

EB: what's going on over there?

EB: what do you mean by 'i might be dead soon'?

CG: . . .

CG: LOOK.

CG: NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS, JOHN.

EB: then when is?

EB: you told me that you're going to die!

CG: GOODBYE JOHN.

CG: I'M. . .

CG: SORRY.

EB: KARKAT!

\- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling ectoBiologist [EB] at ?:? -

\- carcinoGeneticist [CG] blocked ectoBiologist [EB] at ?:? -

You're hand has barely risen from the mouse when you hear heavy footsteps and a voice from the other side of the door. "HEY, KARKAT!" He yells. "I found ya, Karbro. I up and have a fresh club with your name on it." Then, before you can run, the Lab door bangs open, with Gamzee, unsurprisingly, at the threshold. "GAME OVER, MOTHERFUCKER!" He announces with glee, grinning at you, and you jump to your feet, sending the chair hurtling in the desk and smashing your husktop. You don't notice, too busy running towards the transportalizer. It's your last hope, and Gamzee seems to think so to. "Where the motherfuck are you going?" He asks, moving towards you. If you had turned around, you would have noticed him raising his club, preparing to throw it. But you don't stop running and you don't look back. "I SAID 'GAME OVER', MOTHERFUCKER!" You wonder what he means for a split second before the pin he threw hits you in the back of the head _hard_. The pain travel through your body and up and down your spinal cord. You cry out and fall to the ground, the harsh landing putting even more strain on your nerve endings.

You blink rapidly, trying to clear your blurry vision to no avail. Gamzee's laughter reaches your ears and you only have time to wonder what's so funny about this situation before you're gone.

 **Sometime later...**

When you come to, all is quiet, and you're thankful for the silence. You shift from your position on the ground and let out a low groan. Wrong move. "Rise and shine, motherfucker!" Gamzee's voice rings clear through your pounding head, signaling the begins of a migraine. You open your eyes, if only to see what you're dealing with, and are met with a horrifying sight. "WELCOME TO THE MOTHERFUCKIN DARK CARNIVAL, BEST FRIEND." He says, gesturing at the decapitated heads rolling about the floor and the blood-soaked walls. A sign hangs above his head with the words 'DARK CARNIVAL' written in a rainbow of familiar colors. It's dripping onto the floor, as if it's fresh and your stomach twists.

You gag and swallow bile, barely managing to not empty your lunch onto the floor over the overwhelming stench.

"Now then..." He says, throwing your sickles down in front of you and moving closer. Before you can pick them up, something clogs your throat and you cough loudly, pounding your chest so you can breathe. What comes out isn't bile. It's blood. Your hideous mutant blood.

Gamzee doesn't seem to notice and he continues talking as you climb to your feet, sickles in hand. "LET'S PLAY ONE LAST MOTHERFUCKIN GAME, KARKAT!" He suggests, and you only get a 'HONK' in warning before he's slashing at you with his clubs. You bring your sickles up at the last moment, catching his heavy clubs on the tops of your blades. "Gamzee, please!" You plead, tears coming to your eyes again. God, you hate crying. "I know you're in there! Gamzee! Please listen to me!"

There's a sudden sobriety in his eyes, as if you got through to him, before his grimace returns and his eyes flash red.

"Why should I be up and listening to your wicked noise brother..." Gamzee mutters and you flinch at the pure hatred in his tone. "WHEN YOU ALL UP AND ABANDONED ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?" He pulls his clubs away but this time you don't have time to block before his foot is connecting with your stomach, sending you flying into the cement wall. "You and everyone else. YOU AND EVERY OTHER MOTHERFUCKER." He continues, teeth bared as you struggle to pull yourself together on the floor. "You all laughed at me... AT MY FAITH!" You cough, agreeing with him on a sane level. Everyone, including you, as much as you wish it wasn't true, had underestimated and mocked Gamzee since day one. Maybe if you had been nicer, and acted like a real best friend, everyone would still be alive. "You're merely getting... WHAT YOU MOTHERFUCKIN DESERVE, MY MUTANT-BLOODED MOTHERFUCKER." He screams, pointing one fuchsia-stained finger at your fallen form. You cough one last time before you stand, using the wall to support your pathetically weak body. "YOU LEFT ME ALONE! I needed you by my motherfuckin side!" Looking at him through half-lidded eyes, you feel guilt squeeze your chest uncomfortably at the raw hurt in his words. "WHY COULDN'T YOU SEE THAT?"

You push yourself away from the wall, one sickle in hand and the other long forgotten. "Gamzee..." You say, stepping towards him. "I'm sorry."

Your words don't calm him down, instead igniting another chorus of angry words and hurtful truths, but that's fine. You hadn't aimed to calm him down.

With a grim expression, you charge at him, sickle pointed forward to strike. He doesn't notice you until it's too late.

His words, which had been growing louder as he continued, cut off abruptly and he makes a low gurgling sound in the back of his throat. There's a pause, where neither of you make a sound, before reality takes hold and Gamzee _screams_. It's a loud, painful sound, of an animal being brutally murdered before, just as suddenly as it began, it stops.

Your eyes, which you had closed, snap open and you step back, horrified. Gamzee falls to the ground, your sickle buried in his chest. "...Karbro?"

Realization hits you and you fall to your knees next to him. "Oh fuck. No." You begin chanting 'no' over and over again as you wrap your hand around the handle of your blade, ignoring the purple blood. "Oh fuck." You toss the blade aside and cover the wound with your hands, feeling the life slip out of him between your fingers even as you try to undo your mistake. "No, no, no! Please no!" Gamzee turns his head to look at you and you make eye contact, blinking away tears. "GAMZEE! I didn't mean to-" He raises a finger, pressing it against your lips and silencing you.

"Shoooooooosh." He whispers, and you quiet. Damn pale feelings. "I'm so motherfucking glad... that you're all up and safe, best friend." He wheezes, voice hoarse, causing sorrow to fill your chest at the knowledge that you did this. "I'm so motherfuckin sorry... Karbro." He's close to death now, and you're about to tell him to shut up and save his strength, but then he removes his finger from your lips. Once again, you're caught off guard when, instead of dying, he spreads his fingers, making a sort of peace sign. Then the pieces click together in your brain and you do the same, hesitantly pressing them to his own and making a diamond.

Moirails.

You smile at his through your tears and he smiles back before closing his eyes, his blood stilling under your hand. Your smile drops and you press your head to his still chest, screaming long and loud as you sob.

Suddenly, there's a loud *BZZZZZZZ!* behind you and your eyes widen in alarm at the familiar sound.

It sounded just like when Jack appeared on Prospit, just before he killed you and destroyed the yellow planet.

Before you can move to attack however, a sword is shoved through your chest. You don't even have time to feel it before it cuts one of your major arteries, piercing your heart as well. Jack draws it down before yanking it out, trying to inflict as much pain as possible.

But it's too late.

You're already dead.

 _Be an unnamed Aradiabot_

You are now a non-specific Aradiabot floating in space. Currently, you are waiting for Karkat to try and open the door leading to the new universe and fail.

You figured that, before you die, you might as well live through the events that led you here in the first place. That was a very grim session. But that's fine, because you'll be dead(er) in a few moments, terminating any link left to that specific timeline. It's for the best.

You were getting bored with existence anyway.


End file.
